Completion of Certificate Programs, Certifications and Designation are industry marks of excellence. They are immediately recognizable and say to others, “I take my career seriously.”

In today’s competitive workplace, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Employers want administrative and executive assistants with more than experience. They want true professionals—people who are committed to the administrative profession as a career choice, willing to invest in their own growth, and eager to go the extra mile to expand and prove their capability.

Many of the large corporations I have been working with in the last three years are requiring two degrees for currently-employed administrative assistants to be able to move up to senior executive assistant levels. There is even one large Fortune 50 company I work with who is requiring new hire administrative assistants to have a minimum of a two-year degree. [Read more…]

I’m sure you can all think of a person at work who seems to take the joy out of everything. Or no matter what good is going on, they can find a down side to it. You really have to be careful and protect yourself from these people because they can affect your attitude, productivity, progress, and success. Individuals who tend to focus on the negative or what could go wrong, tend to be pessimists. They do exist! I view this as just part of who they are; they really can’t help it. It is in their DNA. I tend to be a positive person, look for the lesson in adversity, and see a bright future even when life is bleak. Maybe you are that kind of person. It’s just us. Our parents could have had an influence on that, life’s events could have affected us when we were young or maybe it is just our genes. [Read more…]

Have you been curious about the various assistant certifications?

In today’s competitive workplace, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Employers want admins with more than experience. They want true professionals—people who are committed to the administrative profession as a career choice, willing to invest in their own growth, and eager to go the extra mile to expand and prove their capability.

While going through the books in my office last week, I was reminded of an incredible book called FIVE: Where Will You Be Five Years From Now? It is one of the most inspiring books I have read in a long time. More than inspiring, it helps you dig deep down to uncover what’s important to you, your 5 top values, life’s mission, and more. While we teach goal setting in our Star Achievement Series®, I find the author’s approach to the subject matter in this book amazing. I love the way the author crafted his messages, and it is visually appealing. So much so that I like to set my copy out decoratively on my desk or side table (of course it’s RED!)

Let’s do an exercise:Think about the next 5 years of your life from the context of what are you going to do within the next 5 years of your life. Your future comes quickly. Your future will be your present before you know it. Just think about how it did not seem long ago that we were all nervous about the new millennium. Here we are 15 years later.

Whether you are 25 or 65, the next 5 years of your life matter. Let’s break it down even further. The next 5 months of your life matter; the next 5 weeks, the next 5 days, the next 5 hours and the next 5 minutes all matter. You know why? Because you will never have that time in your life again. You can’t go back.

One of the many thought-provoking quotes in the book is: “Live your life on purpose.” I interpret that to live your life with passion and a mission; to do something every day that has meaning to you. It means to take responsibility for your career, personal growth and choose what you do with your time wisely. It also means that you should not worry about what everyone else wants you to do or what they think is right for you. That doesn’t mean that we don’t bounce ideas off others, seek mentors, or the advice of another. It does mean that ultimately everything is our choice. That is great news!

Do you understand how exciting this is? Can you fully grasp the concept of this thought? At the beginning of every year, just about every person I know says, “I am going to do “X” differently this year. I’m going to get healthy. I’m going to have better relationships; achieve my dream job” and so forth. It’s easy to start a new year enthusiastically. It is more important that we keep our goals and dreams in front of us throughout the year.

I was also happy to see one page in this book called TGIM (Thank God It’s Monday). The first sentence by Dan Zadra is “Dreading Mondays is a ridiculous way to spend one-seventh of your life, but that’s the weird habit that millions of people have fallen into.”

So, embrace Mondays. Be happy you are at work and that you have a place that needs you and your great talents! Commit to spreading your wings throughout 2015.

TGIM,

Joan Burge

P.S. If you decide you want to purchase a copy of the book I mention above please know it’s part of our 25% off anniversary sale and we have a limited supply available. No code necessary, discount will be reflected at the checkout process.

Joan Burge, a renowned author and administrative expert, is the creator of the Star Achievement Series®, World Class Assistant™ Certificate Program, more than 40 customized workshops and seminars for administrative professionals and author of several books. Joan equips administrative assistants, executive assistants and office support professionals to move beyond task work to higher-level functions that meet the ever-changing demands of today’s workplace.

In today’s supersonic business world, no one can afford to rest on their laurels; good enough is never enough and executives continue to raise their expectations when it comes to an assistant’s performance. Even seasoned executive assistants must challenge themselves and become admin superstars. The most important thing you can do is to invest in yourself! When you take time for learning and development, and sometimes even make a financial investment, you will take what you learn with you the rest of your life.

In this conversation with Joan Burge, you will learn:

- How superstar assistants approach their professional development.
– The top 5 mistakes assistants make when it comes to professional development.
– How to leverage all the resources and tools available for admins.
– How to involve your executive from start to finish!
– How to plan wisely for your time away from your work.

For several weeks, I have been presenting full-day workshops, mini videoconference workshops, and hosting a variety of webinars. I have covered a range of topics from building strategic partnerships to decision-making, success and engagement, creating your career portfolio and emotional intelligence. A group of executive assistants and I were talking about self-management vs. stress management. While the group and I discussed what things create stress for us at work, this group enlightened me that they are trying to stay abreast of daily changes in their organization. One executive assistant defined their workplace as “frantic.” Her leaders run around in a frantic mode and she feels frantic. She explained that things are moving so fast they just can’t ever get ahead of the game. Are you feeling the same way? Are you experiencing constant change in the workplace? [Read more…]

How do you keep a new admin who’s under the gun from the start?

by MARY ELLEN SLAYTER on JANUARY 14, 2015 1:57PM
in ADMIN PRO FORUMQuestion: “In the space of six weeks, our admin team lost two consecutive new hires—they left very quickly. Here’s what I think the problem was: They were totally overwhelmed. We have a million things going on, we’re understaffed, and we can’t take the time to bring people along slowly. A new person has to face a ton of work from day one and there’s no way around it. So how do we somehow hold onto the next admin who gets hired?” – Nadia, San Antonio